- Tactics
- Execution
- Platforms
- Linux
- Reference
- attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1569.003
Description
Adversaries may abuse systemctl to execute commands or programs. Systemctl is the primary interface for systemd, the Linux init system and service manager. Typically invoked from a shell, Systemctl can also be integrated into scripts or applications.
Adversaries may use systemctl to execute commands or programs as Systemd Services. Common subcommands include: systemctl start, systemctl stop, systemctl enable, systemctl disable, and systemctl status.(Citation: Red Hat Systemctl 2022)
How GTK Cyber trains on this
GTK Cyber's Threat Hunting with Data Science course teaches you to build machine-learning detections for techniques like this across the MITRE ATT&CK framework, including the Execution tactic this technique falls under. Practitioner-led, focused on real detections, not memorizing technique IDs.
Related techniques
- T1047 - Windows Management Instrumentation
- T1053 - Scheduled Task/Job
- T1059 - Command and Scripting Interpreter
- T1072 - Software Deployment Tools
- T1106 - Native API
- T1127 - Trusted Developer Utilities Proxy Execution
- T1129 - Shared Modules
- T1197 - BITS Jobs
- T1203 - Exploitation for Client Execution
- T1204 - User Execution
- T1559 - Inter-Process Communication
- T1569 - System Services